Two Boys And A Dog
by whispersandscribbles
Summary: Dean is the new kid in school and he's feeling out of sorts, until he meets a little dog and his owner.


This is my first try at publishing something. I hope people like it.

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A Dog and Two Boys

"Hey!" the kid called from the top of the rise, "Stop that dog!"

Dean looked up as a small ball of fur came running towards him, tiny legs moving as fast as it could. The kid who'd yelled was running behind the creature, but the little dog was faster, and holding something red in its mouth. He froze, wondering what the red thing was, hoping it wasn't the bloody remains of some innocent little woodland creature

The little animal was only a few feet from him, when Dean realized he was holding a red ball in its mouth. It was a small, very hairy dog, with tiny legs and little pointed ears, it's fur mostly black and brown. It stopped in front of Dean and dropped the ball at his feet, then sat and looked up at him, head cocked. If it could speak something besides dog, it probably would have said, "Throw it! Throw the ball! Please throw it! Now would be nice!"

He leaned over and picked up the ball. The tiny creature stopped sitting and began to dance around in excitement, never taking its inky black eyes off the ball. Dean was tempted to throw it, but he had the feeling the kid who had asked him to stop the dog wouldn't like that. Besides, that kid was almost on top of him.

The kid caught up with them, and scooped the dog into his arms. "Keith, I've told you not to run off like that!" he scolded, but his tone was so loving, and he was stroking the little creature behind his ears, which ruined any lesson he might have been trying to teach him. He looked at Dean gratefully. "Thank you. Usually he brings the ball to me."

"It's okay," Dean said. Since the dog seemed friendly, he reached out his hand and gently pet him. His name was Kieth, that meant he was a boy, didn't it?

The kid stared at him for a moment, then nodded as if he'd figured something out. "I know who you are, you're the new kid, Dean Ambrose."

Dean had only been going to this school for a couple weeks and he was tired of everyone knowing who he was, but hardly knowing who anyone else was. "Yeah," he said, trying not to sigh, "I'm the new kid. What else do you know about me? Did they send out a biography on me for everyone to read before I got here?"

The kid's brows furrowed. "No," he said. "It's just that when a new kid comes to school, word gets around fast, especially if they start school during the semester."

"I know," Dean said, scowling. "Everyone knows me, I know nobody." He started walking up the rise, heading for the road so he could walk home. His mother was already going to be mad at him, he didn't need to make it worse.

He expected the kid and his dog would go back to playing in the woods, but the kid put the dog down and snapped a leash on him, then hurried to catch up to him. "Well," he said, "I'm Seth Rollins, and this is my dog, Kieth. Now you know who I am at least."

Dean couldn't help but smile. "And now I know Keith, too. Anyone ever tell you your dog looks like Toto?"

"Just everyone," Seth said, shaking his head. "Toto was a Cairn Terrier. Kieth is part Yorkie. I don't know what the rest of him is." He looked down at the dog with an expression of love. "I wasn't going to adopt a little dog," he said. "When my parents said I could have a dog, we went to the shelter and I was going to get a big dog like a German Shepherd or a Golden Retriever. But Keith went crazy when we were walking by. Just kept barking and trying to get my attention. I finally asked if I could see him, and he almost leaped into my arms. It was kind of hard to say no after that." When Dean said nothing, he continued in a defensive voice. "I know folks think that a little dog like this is like a dog for girls to put in purses, but that's wrong. Kieth is a great dog and being kept in a purse all the time is really bad for a dog. Kieth might be little, but he and I can walk for miles and he doesn't get tired. He's-"

"Seth, I don't _care_ about the size of your dog," Dean said, shaking his head. "Kieth looks happy, you look happy, so what difference does it make?"

"Well, some of the kids make fun of my dog," Seth said, defensively. "Kieth may be tiny, but he's a cool dog."

"Well, I'm the new kid and I'm not going to make fun of your dog." Dean looked down at the dog, who was walking along sided Seth, little dog tongue hanging out of his mouth, looking like this going for a walk stuff was a real treat. He realized he was still holding the red ball in his hands. "Do you want this?"

Seth took it and stuffed it in his pocket. "Usually I walk him on the leash, like I'm supposed to, but I figure in the woods it's safe. I just throw the ball to him and stuff. I don't know why he wanted to bring the ball to you instead."

"Probably thought I could throw further than you," Dean said, looking down so Seth wouldn't see the smirk on his face.

"Hey, no fair!" Seth said. Then, for reasons Dean couldn't figure out, he abruptly changed the subject. "Everyone is saying you come from Cincinnati. Why did you move here? Did one of your parents get transferred?"

Dean shook his head. "Nope, Mom and I moved because she was afraid I was growing up to be a menace to society," he said, part of him wondering why he was willing to share this information with a stranger, thinking he might be getting a little too lonely. "We lived in the projects and I sort of fell in with a bad crowd in High School." When some of my buddies were breaking windows at the High School one night, and we all got busted by the cops, my mom had enough. Did that whole, 'I work my fingers to the bone to give you a good life and you're throwing it away!' The next thing I know it, we're moving in with my aunt in Davenport Iowa." He bit his tongue before he could say something disparaging about the place and risk offending Seth. "My aunt has this huge house, so she said Mom and I could move in we did."

"Do you like Davenport?" Seth asked.

The thing was, that Dean did like Davenport in some ways. He liked that Aunt Beth's house stood detached from the other houses. He liked that it was quiet at night. He liked being able to walk in the woods, real woods and not a few scrubby trees. He liked not seeing graffiti everywhere. But, he felt like he was being unfaithful to the city he'd called home to admit it, so he shrugged. "It's got some good points, but so did Cincinnati." He prayed Seth wouldn't ask what those good points were, and luck was on his side for once that day, because he didn't.

"Did you stay late at school?" Seth asked, looking at Dean's back pack which was obviously, still full of school books. "Or did you have some after school thing you do, like sports or something."

"Mondays and Wednesdays, I do the Chess club," Dean said. "Tuesdays and Thursdays,on the debate team."

"Really?" Seth looked surprised. "I wouldn't have figured you for a brainiac."

Dean laughed, "I'm not, I was just busting on you. I was in detention."

"Oh, that sucks," Seth sounded sympathetic, but Dean suspected Seth might not have ever been in detention. It wasn't that he was overly nerdy, although those glassed he wore might make him suspect. But there was something about him that said he was a good kid. "What did you do?"

"I was caught looking at wrestling sites on the internet," Dean confessed. He'd been stuck taking this remedial computer class, because computers in Iowa were everywhere. Back in his old High School, they had half a dozen ancient computers and at least four of them were always broken.

"Wrestling sites?"

"Yeah," Dean said, standing up straighter. "I like wrestling. Do you have a prob-" He stopped, realizing Seth's eyes were lit up like a jack-o-lantern and there was a grin across his face. "Wait, you like wrestling?"

"I love it," Seth said. "I have a trampoline in my backyard-" He stopped suddenly, that glow from his eyes seeming to spread to the rest of his face instead.

"What about it?" Dean asked, wondering what was wrong with a trampoline?

"Uh, I sort-of pretend I'm a wrestler," Seth said, shrugging, cheeks still red as if he'd been outside playing in the snow for hours. "I have a couple other friends and we practice stuff. We're thinking of making a ring. Lots of folks are doing that now, making rings and doing backyard wrestling."

"I know," Dean said. "I saw that online today." He looked at Seth. "I think it's cool."

"You do?" The blush completely faded from Seth's cheeks and his eyes went back to being Christmas lights. "Some of the other kids in school think it's stupid. Some of them think it's cool and all to watch wrestling, but they think that backyard stuff is crazy. Some of them even call us 'raslin' freaks' or worse."

"They sound like swell guys," Dean said. "Ever think of telling them to fuck off?" The moment the 'F' word was out of his mouth, he regretted it. Back home, swearing was something everyone did, even most of the adults living in the projects. And while his mother didn't like it, he and his friends swore all the time. But Davenport seemed so wholesome with it's green lawns and neat sidewalks, that he was afraid he'd overstepped the boundaries.

But, if Seth was offended, he gave no sign. "Yeah, I have," he admitted. "But I don't want to cause a fight, you know? I mean, I'm not scared, but I just would rather avoid the hassle."

"I can see that." They were at the end of the street now. "Uh, I live over that way," he said, pointing to the one on the right. He didn't want to leave Seth, the first kid he'd had a chance to talk to since he moved here, other than the kids at school who always made him feel like they wanted to dissect him and find out what made him tick. "And, uh, I need to get home and do my homework." He really hated saying that last one, but the school system in Davenport was a lot harder than his old school and he was behind in everything.

"You really hate homework, don't you?"

"Does anyone _like_ homework?"

"No," Seth admitted. "But it's not that bad."

"It is for me," they were both just standing on the street and Dean had the feeling this Seth guy was just as reluctant as he was to part ways. Keith was dancing around as if to tell them to just pick a direction and start walking. "The high school I went to back home, well, it was in the bad part of the city, right near the projects. The teachers felt more like jailers, you know? Like teaching was the least important part of their job, the most important was to keep us in line." As he spoke, Dean wondered why in the world he was telling Seth all of this. Was it to keep him from leaving? Or because he wanted Seth to realize where he had come from, so no one could spring it on him later and shock him in some, 'why didn't you tell me you were a juvenile delinquent?' way. "So, uh, I'm not where most folks are here, I'm struggling to catch up." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm a great student," Seth said. "I'm always on the honor roll."

Dean wondered if he was trying to be an asshole, to rub it in how smart he was, and he scowled.

"Uh," Seth continued, not seeing the scowl. "Maybe I could help you? You know, just until you catch up? He pointed the other way. "My house is right down there. If, uh, you didn't have to go home right away, you could come over and I could help you with your homework."

Dean looked at him. "You'd really be willing to do that?"

"Yeah," Seth said, nodding. "I mean, like, you're a wrestling fan. And we have to stick together."

'Stick together,' Dean thought, deciding he liked that term. "Does this mean, like, we're friends or something?"

"Do you want to be friends?" Now Seth rubbed the back of his neck, looking as nervous as Dean was feeling.

"Yeah, I think I do, if you do," Dean said slowly. He'd never had a friend on the honor roll at school before, and that combined with a love of wrestling, made for a pretty good friend. "Uh, I'll have to call my mother and let her know," he said.

To Dean's shock, Seth pulled a cellular phone out of his pocket. Dean knew more people were getting them, but he'd never met a kid his age before who just pulled one out of his pocket so casually. "you can call her and ask her."

"How did you get a cellphone?" Dean blurted out as he accepted it.

"I got it at the beginning of this school year," Seth admitted. "Sometimes, my parents need me to pick up my brother and sister after school and walk home with them. Their schools aren't far. It makes it easier that they can just call me. I don't leave it on at school, but I can check and see if they left me a message."

"Sweet," Dean said, and he did think the phone was sweet. He wasn't sure if he thought picking up a brother or sister, who Dean assumed to be younger, was cool, he was an only child. But having your own cell phone was, well, sweet.

Seth gave him some quick instructions on how to use the phone and soon Dean was talking to his mother. He'd called her from the school payphones to let her know about the detention, and she hadn't been pleased. She wasn't pleased he wasn't home yet, either. "It's cool, Mom," he said. "I met someone, and he's smart, like on the honor roll smart and he's going to help me with my homework."

"Did you meet him in detention?" His mother's voice held that "You'd better not mess with me" tone he was getting to know all too well lately.

"Uh, honor student, remember?" Dean said, hoping he didn't sound as sarcastic as he felt.

"Honor students can get in trouble, too."

"Well, not this one," Dean said. "I met him and his dog as I was heading home. His name is Seth and he's offering to help me with my school work. And Mom, I really could use some help." The last part was a confession, his mother worked hard at her new job, and he was trying to avoid letting her know that he was feeling like he was drowning when it came to his school work.

It took a little more time to convince her that it was safe to go over to Seth's. It also took giving her Seth's house number so she could call to make sure Dean wouldn't be a bother. Then, Seth had to call quickly to warn his mother that Dean's mother was calling. It was a ball of confusion, but it got straightened out eventually, and the two boys started heading to Seth's house.

"If we get finished early enough, you want to watch wrestling?" Seth asked. "I've got a TV and a VCR player downstairs. I tape all the wrestling on TV, so I've got a lot of it."

"Wow," Dean said, grinning, feeling for the first time like he might actually fit into Davenport Iowa. "Homework help and wrestling, this is going to be good."

"What's that expression? About friendship?"

"Friends help friends move, real friends help friends move bodies?" Dean quipped.

Seth laughed, "That's a good one, but the one I was thinking about was from that movie, you know. 'This could be the start of a beautiful friendship?'"

"Casablanca," Dean said. "My mom loves that movie. But, in this case it's good quote."

Both boys were grinning as they headed down the street together, Keith happily walking between them.

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Thank you for reading this and I hoped you liked it.


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